Darren Elias Wins Third World Poker Tour Main Event Title

Darren Elias outlasted a field of 489 entries to emerge victorious in the 2017 World Poker Tour Fallswview Poker Classic $5,000 CAD buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. In addition to the $449,484 CAD ($335,436 USD) and the trophy Elias also earned a place in the history books with this win, his record-tying third in a WPT main event. Elias now joins Anthony Zinno, Chino Rheem, Gus Hansen and Carlos Mortensen as the fifth player to capture three WPT titles in the tour’s 15-year run.

Elias’ first two titles came in the fall of 2014, where he went back-to-back by winning the WPT Borgata Poker Open on September 19 and then took down the WPT Caribbean on Nov. 7. With this latest win Elias’ live tournament earnings now exceed $4.4 million.

In addition to the tying the record and earning a huge payday Elias was also awarded 1,440 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win, which instantly catapulted him into a tie for eighth place on the overall POY leaderboard, which is presented in 2017 by Commerce Hotel & Casino.

Elias came into the third and final day of this event in 10th chip position with 22 players remaining. By the time that two-time WSOP bracelet winner Kristen Bicknell hit the rail in seventh place to set up the six-handed final Elias had climbed into third chip position.

Elias picked off a big bluff from Andrew Chen with ace high and the sent him to the rail in fourth place ($106,865 USD) to take close the gap on David Eldridge, who was the chip leader at the time. Elias scored another knockout when he sent Jean-Christophe Ferreira to the rail in 3rd place ($144,465 USD). In doing so he overtook the chip lead heading into the final showdown with Eldridge.

The heads-up battle lasted only three hands. Elias took down a huge pot without showdown on the first hand, and two deals later called Eldridge’s all-in shove of a few big blinds with the J6. Eldridge had the 109 which took the lead when the flop brought the K105. The Q on the turn gave Elias the open-ended straight draw, which the 9 completed on the river. With that Eldridge was eliminated in second place ($224,613) while Elias secured the title and his place in the poker history books.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Winners photo courtesy of Rob Gracie / World Poker Tour.

Related Articles

Big Deal for One Drop Raises For Charity

Hendrix Wins PGT Texas PLO Roundup High Roller

One Drop Charity Event Runs Friday At Resorts World

Most Viewed Articles